Mars Mars GPS satellite positioning detector location

10.07.2010

Pasadena, California, from the experiment prompted NASA Phoenix Mars landing in 2008 shocked proposed in 1976 by ​​NASA's Viking Mars landing review of the soil may contain life of carbon-based chemical building foundation.

"It does not say anything about life on Mars has been in existence, but it can make a big difference, how to find evidence in our answer, " said NASA Ames Research Center, Chris Mackay No. McKay co-market the U.S. online magazine, published Geophysical Research - planets, reanalyzing the organic chemicals in Martian soil Vikings of the test results.

Determine the Viking landing on Mars soil samples heated only when the organic chemicals is chloromethane and dichloromethane - - explanations may be from the cleaning fluid contaminants, chlorine compounds at this time. But what these chemicals entirely new study found that a bit of Perchlorate - - surprises from the Phoenix found that - - when added to the soil with organic matter in the desert of Chile and Viking way of testing.

Our results show that the organic matter, but also the perchlorate may have been in the two Viking landing sites in the soil, "said study lead author of Education who Rafael Navarro Gonzalez Mexican National Autonomous University of Mexico City.

Can come from non-living organisms or biological source. A lot of rain in the past to Mars meteorites on Earth 500 million years, contains organic matter. Even if there is no life on Mars, and scientists expect the Vikings before the Martian soil will contain organic matter from meteorites.

This is the first photograph ever taken on the surface of the planet Mars and was obtained by Viking 1 just minutes after the spacecraft landed successfully.
Image Credit: NASA